The High Call in Pandemic Days

On this morning's news, I heard a little clip from Great Britain. It was from Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, and heir to the British Crown. He was apparently standing in his garden, thinking about many Britons without jobs when it dawned on him that there was a great need for help in getting in England's next harvest.

Workers from Europe would not be able to come, but how about Britain's own temporarily unemployed?

That simple call for help brought back a flood of memories to me of the summer after my first college year, when England, struggling to recover from the ravages of the Second World War, issued the same appeal for young people from everywhere to volunteer to "Lend a Hand on the Land" by coming to England to help gather the harvest.

It was a chance to help. It was 1948 and I went. It turned out to be a solitary adventure for me, with The National Student Association, to go help England gather its food for the next year.

We went to the fields of East Anglia, just beyond Norwich, England, to the flat marshlands known as "The Broads." We lived in quonset huts, a great mixture of students from across the world. It was a cold, dank summer, but, we worked the fields alongside German prisoners of war and each other.

We worked hard, we made friends, and at summer's end we traveled modestly in Britain. Entertainment was conversation and writing in our diaries. Mostly, it was a chance to help.

While it was a chance to serve, it was mostly youthful adventure. But, we did know it was making a difference.

These days are not so different. The enemy is invisible around us. An unfamiliar virus - in the air, lying in wait, and wreaking havoc with those who catch it. And, for many, there is the same sense of "call" - to come help. If you're not a doctor or a nurse, you can still help your neighbor. Think of kindly acts - and, just be kind.  Make a phone call. Write a note. Above all, PRAY. For this land, and its people, its sick folks, its hospitals, its medical responders, its political leaders. Do what we can. A thousand lessons to be learned.

So much we can do, right here at home. In a way, the answer is to undertake an adventure. Do what maybe you've never done. Reach out. "Lend a Hand." And, a heart to brighten the world right where we are.

Love you all,
Arthur